"Encasing Time"

As I struggled to decide how I could best display my necklace I spent a lot of time looking at old pictures of Victorian Women.  What really caught my eye was the repetition of the octagon and then as I looked at my pendant more closely I realized that the stone was in the shape of an octagon. I first played with the idea of making the display case look like an old fashion hat box. I then saw a picture of a package that was a bag in which the handle was incorporated into the graphic on the front of the bag.  From there I started liking the idea of using the chain for the necklace as the handle to the box.  My idea is to make the display look like vintage luggage and the chain would slip onto a woman's wrist to carry it.

INSPIRATION

"Connecting Generations"

"Connecting Generations" was a quote that really stuck with me when deciding how to best brand or "sell" the necklace.  Because it is an antique piece from the Victorian era, it is something that connects me to the past and makes me feel as though I am wearing a part of history.  In my advertisement I wanted to display the piece as something that could connect many different generations and time periods.  The fact that I am a girl in my 20's in 2010 wearing a necklace that someone wore in the late 1800's shows the timeless quality of jewelry and this is what I wanted to portray in my advertisement.

VINTAGE

The Necklace that I chose as my object for the rest of the semester is very special to me and has so many meanings.  When I was designing my postcard for the first section of the project I tried to think about how to incorporate all of those meanings onto one 4 x 6 notecard. The first word that came to mind was Vintage. The necklace has a very vintage feel and when I wear it, it helps to complete my eclectic style. After I decided that VINTAGE was going to be my main word I wanted to also incorporate other words thats the necklace evoked and bring them onto the card in a clever way.  The words I felt best represented this piece of jewelry are; Valuable, Inspiring, Notable, Treasure, Antique, Glamorous, and Elegant.

The Final piece was how to best incorporate the necklace into the card and connect all the elements.  As I was looking for inspiration and googling images for the word vintage, I stumbled upon a picture of vintage Louis Vuitton trunks and fell in love with the idea of using a Vintage trunk to display the Necklace. 

Blogosphere

Before I began my own blog, I took a look at some of the other blogs out there to get a better idea of what I could do with my own blog.  I have looked at blogs before, usually for design purposes, and I find them very helpful and a great way to find inspiration. Some of my favorites are; "Matters of Style", "Life in a Venti Cup", "CoCo Cozy", "My Little Paris" and "Absolutely Beautiful Things".  Each of these bloggers use their own life experiences such as photographs, family and friends, cities and magazines as inspiration for design.  I hope that I can achieve a similar collaboration of inspirational mementos in my own blog.
I also like how "Andrea Joseph's Sketchblog" and "An open sketch book" show sketches and the design process and use the blog as a way for others to see their own work.  In Andrea Joseph's Sketchblog http://andreajoseph24.blogspot.com/ Her colorful drawings caught my eye, especially the intricate detail in the sombrero sketch. As well as the simplistic, sketches of sneakers and shoes; which truly shows that you can sketch just about anything.

Branding

Branding. One word with so many meanings. For me the first thing that comes to mind is how cows are branded in order to indicate ownership.  But that is definitely not what this assignment is about.  For our first assignment in our Foundations of Interior Design class, we must create an advertisement or logo for an object, in a way that highlights its unique qualities.  We were assigned categories and then from that could choose an object that was a part of that category.  The category I was assigned was jewelry and I instantly chose an antique necklace that I recently acquired.  The necklace is from the victorian era and is made of gold, pearls and a dark brown beautifully cut stone in the center.